Business Profits

Written on the 21 October 2013 by Queensland Government

Making your business more profitable

Profit is the positive financial gain your business makes after you've subtracted all your expenses. The ability to generate profit is crucial to the survival of your business. It is about more than just making money - it's also about the ability to grow your business in the future.

Profit is not the same as cash or sales, and it's not the money in the bank or on hand. Profit is represented 'on paper' in your accounting system.

To be more profitable you need to understand the concepts of profit margins and profit drivers. You can then develop strategies to increase your profits, including ways to increase your sales revenue and decrease costs.

You can use the tools, diagrams and tables in this guide to help calculate your profit goal, minimum sales requirement and to chart the most important products for your profit margins.

This guide explains how to make your business more profitable by helping you identify and understand the financial factors that affect it.